Bhattacharjee Arjak, Rudolph Sara, Kaplan David L
Department of Biomedical Engineering Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts 02155, United States.
Department of Materials and Metallurgical Engineering, New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology, Socorro, New Mexico 87801, United States.
ACS Appl Bio Mater. 2024 Dec 16;7(12):8272-8280. doi: 10.1021/acsabm.4c00950. Epub 2024 Nov 27.
Silk fibroin (SF) is a natural protein generated from the silkworm cocoons. It is useful for many different material applications. Versatile aqueous process engineering options can be used to support the morphological and structural modifications of silk materials related to tailored physical, chemical, and biological properties. Conventional solution-based processing methods, while effective, present process control limitations, thus, thermoplastic molding of regenerated SF-based composites was pursued to fabricate dense, functionalized plastics consisting of silk and curcumin. Curcumin, the active compound in turmeric () was incorporated into SF during the high-temperature processing, with the objective to investigate composite thermoplastics with enhanced biological properties from the curcumin due to the protective role of silk during processing. The results showed that a significantly higher amount of curcumin (∼25-fold) could be added into thermoplastic molded silk materials compared with the solution route, attributed to the hydrophobicity and low solubility of curcumin in solution-based routes. The curcumin-incorporated silk thermoplastics provided stability in acidic environments like the human gut, and slow curcumin (∼2% over 8 days) release from the materials. The protective silk-curcumin materials supported improved cytocompatibility with immortalized human colorectal adenocarcinoma (Caco-2) cells at high doses. The intestinal epithelial barrier integrity based on zonula occluden 1 (ZO-1) testing showed that the higher amount of curcumin in the thermoplastic molded silk had no negative effects on the intestinal barrier. The functionalized silk-based plastics also displayed microwave stability and antibacterial efficacy against both Gram-positive and Gram-negative . These silk-based sustainable plastics, functionalized with curcumin, offer potential utility for a range of consumer and medical devices.
丝素蛋白（SF）是一种由蚕茧产生的天然蛋白质。它在许多不同的材料应用中都很有用。多种水性工艺工程选项可用于支持丝绸材料的形态和结构改性，以实现定制的物理、化学和生物学特性。传统的基于溶液的加工方法虽然有效，但存在工艺控制限制，因此，人们采用再生SF基复合材料的热塑性成型来制造由丝绸和姜黄素组成的致密、功能化塑料。姜黄素是姜黄中的活性化合物，在高温加工过程中被掺入SF中，目的是研究由于加工过程中丝绸的保护作用而具有增强生物学特性的复合热塑性塑料。结果表明，与溶液法相比，热塑性成型的丝绸材料中可以添加显著更多的姜黄素（约25倍），这归因于姜黄素在基于溶液的方法中的疏水性和低溶解度。掺入姜黄素的丝绸热塑性塑料在类似人体肠道的酸性环境中具有稳定性，并且姜黄素从材料中缓慢释放（8天内约2%）。含保护剂的丝绸-姜黄素材料在高剂量下对永生化人结肠腺癌（Caco-2）细胞具有更好的细胞相容性。基于紧密连接蛋白1（ZO-1）测试的肠上皮屏障完整性表明，热塑性成型丝绸中较高含量的姜黄素对肠道屏障没有负面影响。功能化的丝绸基塑料还表现出微波稳定性和对革兰氏阳性菌和革兰氏阴性菌的抗菌功效。这些用姜黄素功能化的丝绸基可持续塑料在一系列消费和医疗设备中具有潜在用途。
